Aposematism is an evolved, cross-species association between a preys' unprofitability and the presence of conspicuous signals. Avian predators have been widely employed to understand the evolution of these warning signals However, insect predators are abundant, diverse, and highly visual foragers that have been shown to be capable of learned aversion. Therefore, it is likely that their behaviou...

1. The behaviour of predators is rarely considered in models of predator–prey interactions, nor is it common to include multiple predators in models of animal behaviour. 2. We introduce a model of optimal diel vertical migration in zooplankton prey facing predation from two functionally different predators, fish and other zooplankton. Zooplankton predators are themselves subject to predation fr...

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.11.029 0003-3472/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Ltd on beha Prey animals that possess chemical defences often advertise their unprofitability to predators by a distinctive and conspicuous visual appearance known as aposematism. However, not all chemically defended species are conspicuous, and some are nearly cryptic. Differences in predator community compo...

Geographic variation in behaviour of individuals within a species is well known (Foster & Endler 1999), both across ranges (Iriarte et al. 1990) and locally (Hertz & Huey 1981). For predators, variation in prey use within a given site is often seasonal (Brillhart & Kaufman 1995), and related to changes in relative abundance and/or vulnerability of various prey (Kunkel et al. 2004). Behavioural ...

Habitat selection decisions by consumers has the potential to shape ecosystems. Understanding the factors that influence habitat selection is therefore critical to understanding ecosystem function. This is especially true of mesoconsumers because they provide the link between upper and lower tropic levels. We examined the factors influencing microhabitat selection of marine mesoconsumers - juve...

Aposematic prey warn predators of their toxicity using conspicuous signals. However, predators regularly include aposematic prey in their diets, particularly when they are in a poor energetic state and in need of nutrients. We investigated whether or not an environmental factor, ambient temperature, could change the energetic state of predators and lead to an increased intake of prey that they ...

1. Most models of thermal adaptation ignore biotic interactions, and those that do consider biotic interactions assume that competitors or predators cannot respond to adaptation by the focal species. Nevertheless, real biotic interactions involve responsive entities, which can be more accurately modelled using evolutionary game theory. 2. We present a two-part analysis of a thermal game between...